| Can you name an anime or manga that, in your opinion, had great potential and even in theory could be your favorite work, but it either wasted its potential for some reason, or ruined it due to bad author's decisions or intentions? Do you find understanding among other fans of these works? |
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| Kimetsu no yaiba have a potential, too bad it's just a bleach bootleg. |
| . |
| One Piece. Oda really can design that kind of world building only to waste it (or milking it ?) to a kind of repetitive plot in each new island. Great world building but sucked plot. |
"The Slave is the have-not, the oppressed one with nothing to spare. But because the Slave is in that despairing situation, having nothing, it can kill the Emperor !" |
| I’m not bitter or salty about it, and I still feel positively towards it somewhat, but I personally think Tamako Love Story really wasted it’s potential. I wrote a whole review on it while I was sick in bed last week. |
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Jim_Heart said: One Piece. Oda really can design that kind of world building only to waste it (or milking it ?) to a kind of repetitive plot in each new island. Great world building but sucked plot. This is a common problem. The author creates an amazing world or concept, but then simply does not use it because of laziness, fear, or simply lack of sufficient abilities. |
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| Takt. Op Destiny, this show packed so much heat at the start, amazing character design and animation, awesome world. Only for it not to go in depth with ANY of it. Seraph of the End is another one, starts off insane, really cool world, then thrown into Vampire slayer high school, so stupid man. |
| Queen's Blade Rebellion had some great potential coming from the high heels of the original Queen's Blade but it was ruined with with bland cookie-cutter characters, mediocre animation of the action scenes and a snoozefest of a boring story, what a let down. |
| Id:Invaded It was intense till the 9-10 episode then everything became very much predictable and the ending was anticlimactic. |
   𝓢𝓪𝓴𝓾𝓻𝓪 𝓚𝓲𝓷𝓸𝓶𝓸𝓽𝓸 |
| Symphogear is a perfect example of a potentially great series dragged down by awful protagonist, who clearly overstayed her welcome. First two seasons were fine, but rest was literally the same and writer's blatant incompetence made Yellow Thing look like a egoistic sociopath because they wouldn't bother to properly challenge her morals and all of her talking no jutsu villains had nothing to do with kindness and were just a muscle memory. |
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| B Gata H Kei. It had a unique plot but ended up just becoming another harem/ecchi and she never accomplishes her goal. |
| My waifu is the most wonderful waifu. Mai Valentine. |
| Wonder Egg Priority is the better example of wasted potential. Also Re:Creators, interesting concept but the way it was executed was very boring. |
| Imagine how boring this world would be without Japan - a comment at youtube |
RobertBobert said: An anime that makes you bitter or salty because of a waste of potential. I wouldn't say anything would really make me bitter or salty but more so disappointed when I feel I have watched something with a waste of potential. Just a disclaimer I have issues with many Franchise, even some that are theoretically still actively ongoing whether they have kept a series consistent on releasing new material or not. 1st I will just talk about "Agent AIKa". While I have held this Anime close to my heart as a franchise I have grown to love and even elevate it as a true classic marking it as a standard bearer I hold to any Action Ecchi releases I have ever watched, "Agent AIKa" as a franchise wasted it's potential of actually becoming something more than just an OVA by the creators decision to focus on other projects after the "Agent AIKa" 7 episode OVA was finally finished it's original run. The creator waited an entire decade to produce a prequal called "AIKa R-16: Virgin Mission' which didn't do as well. Mainly the story was bad even for an Ecchi OVA and the cast was even worse almost completely forgettable. When they are spending more time on the detail of the characters panties than anything else, you know they aren't producing it for any reason other than an excuse just to produce something to throw animated panty shots at a bunch of horny veiwers. The fact all the characters look like clones from another project the creators worked on called "Stratos 4" likely made any true fan of the AIka franchise feel a bit more than uncomfortable knowing the main cast of characters are a bunch of you 16 year old teens. After this the creator just a few years after produced another AIka prequal OVA called "AIKa Zero" which had all the same problems as the previous prequal. While the main characters in this Anime were now in their late teens it still didn't matter when it's just being produced just for the purpose of throwing a bunch of animated panty shots in the viewers faces. This OVA story was even more forgettable than the previous prequal released two years before. This ended up being disappointing when it's likely true "Agent Aika" fans were really wanting a full blown seasonal release concentrated around the original cast and still focused on Aika as an adult in her late 20s. "Sword Art Online" really should have just ended after the 1st half of the original series. The entire "ALfheim" arc ruined this franchise for me. Even tried to give the second season a chance but ended up more disappointed than watching the last half of the 1st season with the "ALfheim" arc. Would have been more epic if the author just ended the Franchise with the end of the "Aincrad" arc. Even if the actual fate of Asuna would have been left in ambiguity. "Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor" falls under the same line as "Sword Art Online". The 1st half of "Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor" was extremely entertaining but half way through the series I started losing interest. Although not for the same reason as "Sword Art Online". Atleast the last half of "Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor" wasn't a complete cringe fest like the last half of "Sword Art Online" was. The issue with "Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor" was it just became boring for me to watch. Even "Chidori RSC" was fun to watch till it wasn't anymore. Like the Anime setup an interesting premise only for everything to go completely downhill and extremely boring to watch once it reaches a mid way point in the series. Another recent Anime is "Fena: Pirate Princess". While "Fena: Pirate Princess" set up as a very exciting and interesting Adventure Fantasy, The way the series concluded just ruined it for me. I won't spoil the ending for anyone but I will just say it was more than disappointing for a person like me. "Haganai: I don't have many friends" basically did the same thing to me as "Fena: Pirate Princess". The 2nd season of "Haganai" was beyond disappointing for me. For a franchise that is suppose to be an Ecchi Romcom the author sure threw the audience a curve ball near the ending of Haganai's 2nd season. To me it was more borderline tragic than conclusive ending and far from stopping the story on a happy note for a series that is mostly filled with comedy. the 1st season of "How Not to Summon a Demon Lord" was actually great and was clearly looking forward to seeing a 2nd season until we actually got one. "How Not to Summon a Demon Lord Ω" was beyond another disappointment for me. Would have just been better to have left the franchise with just one season. In fact "Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-" use to be one of my favorite modern franchises till the release of the 2nd season. After watching both parts of season 2 of "Re:ZERO" I actually no longer like this franchise anymore. That's how disappointing it became for me. I am sure I could give more examples but I doubt anyone is going to read what I have written anyways. The average MAL user likely suffers from ADD anyways. lol |
ColourWheelDec 5, 2022 3:14 PM
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AcD4c said: Wonder Egg Priority is the better example of wasted potential. Also Re:Creators, interesting concept but the way it was executed was very boring. I still remember the scriptwriter banned in the twitter Japanese people who complained about the rushed ending. Piromysl said: Symphogear is a perfect example of a potentially great series dragged down by awful protagonist, who clearly overstayed her welcome. First two seasons were fine, but rest was literally the same and writer's blatant incompetence made Yellow Thing look like a egoistic sociopath because they wouldn't bother to properly challenge her morals and all of her talking no jutsu villains had nothing to do with kindness and were just a muscle memory. In my experience, writers always have to go to great lengths not to turn an action series with a female MC into a pointless fanservice show. @ColourWheel Judging by the subsequent works of the Haganai author, he was simply tired of everything and wanted to write a meaningless all-female yuri. |
RobertBobertDec 5, 2022 2:10 PM
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| Red Garden kind of, although I still like it as it is, I feel as though Gonzo could've done much more with the series. Got to also be Gundam Seed Destiny for me, if only they had portrayed Kira Yamato as the real antagonist of the series that he always was, they forced Shinn Asuka the real hero of the Seed continuity to supposedly be the bad guy. |
KumiveneellaDec 5, 2022 3:08 PM
| i wouldn't say i'm "bitter" or "salty" about it, but billionaire detective could've been a LOT better |
| Beatless - such an awesome idea, but girls are mostly not very likable. Demon Slayer has good art but that is about it. Story and characters are bad. |
| Buy my awesome BDSM male domination book here https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1174760 Visit my Discord https://discord.com/channels/1047490147794550844/1047490149161898039 I am not there most of the time but you can leave a message. Or my blog here https://BDSMAnime.blogspot.com/ Or here https://BDSMAnime18.blogspot.com/ Submit to me and become my subject here https://myanimelist.net/clubs.php?cid=88107 |
| There are so many. The one that I haven't been able to forget though is Assassin's Pride. It's not anything special, but like the first half-3/4 of the anime was fairly enjoyable. However, the ending dropped the ball so hard because almost everything seemed to be resolved out of no where. I don't know if it had source material though. |
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| Most Shojo animes because the studios seem to be having a hard time getting any budget past season one. (Ao Haru Ride, Kachiou wa Maid Sama, Akatsuki no Yona, Orange, etc...) But Akatsuki no Yona is a real missed potential, more than romance and comedy, with themes such as fantasy, supernatural, adventure, politics, action, and war.....GOD DAMN WHY DID THEY NOT CONTINUE TO MAKE MORE SEASONS.... Also I feel like most webtoon adaptions due very poorly, and with such interesting stories, it really is a shame. Hope they do Solo Leveling well.... |
 Tipsy and giddy, away with all the riddles Unbeknown and unconsumed they shine The heart of the fire rekindles Without needing to cross any line |
| Made in Abyss. The Abyss is such a nice place, but the show is 100% unwatchable because of the characters. Riko and Reg are some of the worst characters I have ever seen in anime. |
This dance is the pinnacle of human achievement. |
| wonder egg priority is the by far the biggest example of this. I genuinely believed that while shows with good stories and ideas can fumble, well written ones won't. until, wonder egg. everything was screaming planned. everything was polished and the show seemed to have an extremely clear vision. but then it just, did nothing. it didn't have a bad ending, it just didn't end. it opened up so many new questions, and then went yeah fuck you. sad or happy? part is, it can be completely fixed by a sequel that ties things up |
| Also available at: YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK8spdL1M_J-z0vO2C7jPLw Second Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@AshPolygonsDo/videos Why You Should Watch Akudama Drive: https://youtu.be/Yw0r52wRjgA A Love Letter To Anime「AMV」: https://youtu.be/YQyqxFM2m9Q My referral code to a website/app that gives you free money (a few cents a day) by using a few megabytes of your internet for file sharing. We both get a bonus if you use my link: https://r.honeygain.me/ARSHIA7942 |
| I was pretty salty watching the downfall of Tokyo Ghoul, I loved that series in the beginning. Same thing with Food Wars. |
Chronon said: Id:Invaded It was intense till the 9-10 episode then everything became very much predictable and the ending was anticlimactic. I mean, to be honest, after how much of a masterpiece the two ""flashback"" episodes were, next to nothing could have topped it for the finale. to me, the show had 2 major mysteries. the dead girl in the id worlds, which had an EXTREMELY satisfying answer. and the mystery person that had a very obvious answer. so... yeah one of the answers was perfect, and the other was predictable but not "bad" to me as far mysteries go, that is pretty damn good. |
| Also available at: YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK8spdL1M_J-z0vO2C7jPLw Second Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@AshPolygonsDo/videos Why You Should Watch Akudama Drive: https://youtu.be/Yw0r52wRjgA A Love Letter To Anime「AMV」: https://youtu.be/YQyqxFM2m9Q My referral code to a website/app that gives you free money (a few cents a day) by using a few megabytes of your internet for file sharing. We both get a bonus if you use my link: https://r.honeygain.me/ARSHIA7942 |
| Ghost in the Shell 2045 could have been great if it wasn't for apocalyptically stupid writing of its first half (go ahead watch it, or watch some reviews you'll see what I mean) Magi (Labrynth and Kingdom) took way too many detours and weird plot choices, and then just stopped, ended without resolution After the brilliance that was Total Eclipse, the Muv-Luv Alternative: Shwarzesmarken was literally unwatchable Made in Abyss S2 made the strange plot choice of staying put rather than the downward travel that made the original so compelling- but it was truly ruined by disgusting fetishes Wonder Egg Priority... I don't need to explain |
| Nothing like salty or bitter, just kinda disappointed whenever I encounter wasted potential anime, like Fairy Tail for example. The concept is pretty good but the execution could have been 100x better, too bad. |
 (っ◔◡◔)っ 𝓘 𝔀𝓲𝓼𝓱 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓪 𝔀𝓸𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻𝓯𝓾𝓵 𝓭𝓪𝔂 ♥ |
| My Dress-Up Darling. I liked the idea of two people combining their different hobbies. I especially liked seeing a man with a traditionally feminine hobby. However, the excessive fanservice made it very uncomfortable for me to watch. Also, the characters were pretty bland. |
| Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers. It sets up a solid mystery premise but fails to deliver. On top of that, it effectively resets the entire plot at the end of first (and only) season, rendering everything before it meaningless. Very few shows make me actively angry, but Rokka is definitely one of them. |
| Toaru Majutsu no Index 3, wasted potential |
Apolygon2 said: Chronon said: Id:Invaded It was intense till the 9-10 episode then everything became very much predictable and the ending was anticlimactic. I mean, to be honest, after how much of a masterpiece the two ""flashback"" episodes were, next to nothing could have topped it for the finale. to me, the show had 2 major mysteries. the dead girl in the id worlds, which had an EXTREMELY satisfying answer. and the mystery person that had a very obvious answer. so... yeah one of the answers was perfect, and the other was predictable but not "bad" to me as far mysteries go, that is pretty damn good. The moment I saw the man I guessed that he would be the antagonist. And tbh just hearing the name of a new character made me guess, she would be the dead girl. I almost predicted the ending on the episode where that girl was introduced somewhere middle of the series. But I was impressed by the concept and excited to see how they would draw the ending. That's where I got disappointed. I am not saying it was bad but 2-3 more episodes or atleast 1 more episode could normalise it better. It felt paced. |
𝓢𝓪𝓴𝓾𝓻𝓪 𝓚𝓲𝓷𝓸𝓶𝓸𝓽𝓸 |
| Plastic Memories, I really wish the rest of that series was as good as its first few episodes, it threw away the interesting premise and cool worldbuilding that were going on, leaving a lot of questions unanswered for a mediocre romcom with a very ineffective "sad" ending. |
| Who are you and why do you show your hostility towards a complete stranger whom you've not once spoken with before. Are you seriously asking to get blocked? Well, if that's what your intent is; to tempt me into throwing hands with someone as lowly and insignificant as you, then i may grant your wish provided you articulate yourself a bit better when trying to spite a person of my wavelength. |
| Yami Shibai Series, just finished this and I'm pretty disappointed. The first season was fun and scary, after that, the production of the other 9 seasons just lazed off and stories just lost depth. |
yulee1Dec 5, 2022 7:53 PM
Kek |
Chronon said: Apolygon2 said: I mean, to be honest, after how much of a masterpiece the two ""flashback"" episodes were, next to nothing could have topped it for the finale. to me, the show had 2 major mysteries. the dead girl in the id worlds, which had an EXTREMELY satisfying answer. and the mystery person that had a very obvious answer. so... yeah one of the answers was perfect, and the other was predictable but not "bad" to me as far mysteries go, that is pretty damn good. The moment I saw the man I guessed that he would be the antagonist. And tbh just hearing the name of a new character made me guess, she would be the dead girl. I almost predicted the ending on the episode where that girl was introduced somewhere middle of the series. But I was impressed by the concept and excited to see how they would draw the ending. That's where I got disappointed. I am not saying it was bad but 2-3 more episodes or atleast 1 more episode could normalise it better. It felt paced. I mean you obviously could tell she is the dead girl. but I see the mystery as "why was the dead girl there?" and the answer to that was perfect! but yeah the villain was extremely obvious. that guy in general is the least good part of id invaded outside of the laughably bad cgi cars. |
| Also available at: YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK8spdL1M_J-z0vO2C7jPLw Second Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@AshPolygonsDo/videos Why You Should Watch Akudama Drive: https://youtu.be/Yw0r52wRjgA A Love Letter To Anime「AMV」: https://youtu.be/YQyqxFM2m9Q My referral code to a website/app that gives you free money (a few cents a day) by using a few megabytes of your internet for file sharing. We both get a bonus if you use my link: https://r.honeygain.me/ARSHIA7942 |
| As for a series with wasted potential that I liked anyway, I'll go with Angel Beats. In a perfect timeline, Angel Beats is a 26 episode anime where Yui, Hinata, Yuri and Kanade all have their backstories explored and their characters developed in the same way that was done with Otonashi in the 13 episode version from our timeline aka the worst timeline. |
| Who are you and why do you show your hostility towards a complete stranger whom you've not once spoken with before. Are you seriously asking to get blocked? Well, if that's what your intent is; to tempt me into throwing hands with someone as lowly and insignificant as you, then i may grant your wish provided you articulate yourself a bit better when trying to spite a person of my wavelength. |
| There are a number of anime that have made me go mental from lost potential, but one that particularly sticks in my head is Penguindrum. I love good psychological anime and spending time breaking down and deciphering their stories, but Penguindrum horrendously squandered its concept and answered next to none of the questions that arose through watching it. I think at one point I had a list of 15+ questions from watching it and literally none got answered by the finale. Really drug down my enjoyment of it when it perforated itself with so many holes. Concept and visuals drew me in, but the story was an unexplained mess. |
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alexw1020 said: Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers. It sets up a solid mystery premise but fails to deliver. On top of that, it effectively resets the entire plot at the end of first (and only) season, rendering everything before it meaningless. Very few shows make me actively angry, but Rokka is definitely one of them. I wouldn't go as far as to say "Rokka" made me angry but it sure did get annoying listening to "Adlet Mayer" keep saying he was the strongest man in the world over and over again. lol        |
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| Im still pissed with the unnecessary last part of death note. Its still good and a classic obviously but it couldve ended so much better |
| 2020 - Noblesse (crying shame) 2021 - Muv-Luv Alternative (this one hurts) 2022 - Shuumatsu no Harem (it's a bit of a waste, but makes me feel hope for the future) |
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| Zero no Tsukaima could have been so much better if they had never introduced the elf girl. What a waste of space she is. Also if the fantasy adventure aspect was treated less as an afterthought, well then it'd be an easy 10/10 anime for me. |
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| Allow me to browse through my list... Oh yeah, Darling in the Franxx is a good example. Unlike most people, I can't say I truly disliked it, but I was very frustrated with many of its narrative choices as well as how it decided to develop its characters. The whole show was full of potential but the first half was too close to some high school drama (although it had good ideas here and there) and the second half was... Well, we all agree on this, it was a mess. Higashi no Eden is another one. On paper, the concept is very interesting and promising. The result is a messy story with a very flawed pacing, unlikable characters (mainly due to how idiotic they were in the sense that they often reacted the exact opposite of how anyone with common sense would react to a situation), lack of real character development, lots of inconsistencies seemingly coming from the show being unable to decide if its plot revolves around something relatively realistic or straight-up supernatural... A shame, really, because it could've been great. To a lesser extent, there's also Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight. I really liked it but between the great art direction, the wacky but interesting symbolism, and the likable and also interesting characters, I expected more, the main problem being that in the end, it focused way too much on the main two characters (leading for the plot to constantly play in their favour even when that wouldn't make sense), who weren't even that interesting compared to some others. And of course, Wonder Egg Priority. I'm not sure I want to talk about this one. Also, I quite agree with someone above mentionning Mawaru Penguindrum. I really enjoyed this show (and I have much more respect for it than for the other shows I mentionned) and I'm even considering rewatching it but I also had this problem with the show barely answering any question. I understand that the whole thing is supposed to be interpreted as metaphorical but too much symbolic ends up making the plot confusing. Oh, I forgot, there's also Elfen Lied. The potential was insane but it had some real trouble with characterization and with the (admittedly very difficult) task to prevent an emotional story about trauma to fall into the "edgy" territory, although I can tell it tried. |
FafetteDec 6, 2022 12:51 AM
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| Death Note. I think the last episodes could have been a lot better. |
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